Dhe government of Ukraine has banned its citizens from competing in the same sports competitions as Russians. Last September, the Ukrainian Chess Federation boycotted the World Youth Championships in Batumi, where Russia had several dozen participants. Anna and Marija Musychuk dropped out of the Grand Prix with four Russians taking part, and now a Russian – who recently acquired a Kazakh passport – is stepping in to sponsor the last tournament in the series.
The Ukrainian women are chess Olympians and the men are European champions, although their federation is destitute. Without financial support and under the emerging compulsion to skip tournaments with Russians, the last strongest Ukrainian grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko changed associations. At the European Championships in March, the 20-year-old from Kiev represented Romania and finished second at the European Championships.
Jan Nepomnjaschtschi gegen Ding Liren
When he was drawn there against Mikhail Kobaliya, who also works as a coach for the Russian FA, Shevchenko only came onto the board after his opponent had made his first move. He decided their encounter in the diagram position with a small combination. He also avoided shaking hands with the Russian afterwards. Kobalija lodged a protest, which the arbitral tribunal rejected. Since the pandemic, refusing to shake hands is no longer considered a fair play violation.
Meanwhile, the Chess Federation of Russia cleverly keeps its players active. Within a week of the invasion of Ukraine, then-CEO Mark Gluchowski organized an appeal signed by 44 grandmasters and federation staff to Vladimir Putin to end the war. Glukhovsky moved to Israel and from there oversaw Russia’s move from the European Chess Federation to the Asian Chess Federation. The Russian media continues to report on board successes. Whether a player spoke out against the war or even still lives in Russia is not mentioned.
As the icing on the cake, Putin’s propaganda machine beckons to regain the world championship title. From Easter Sunday Jan Nepomnjaschtschi is the favorite in the duel with the Chinese Ding Liren due to his match experience and recent better form after Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend his title. It should feel like a home fight for Nepomnjaschtschi. Russian is spoken in the Kazakh capital of Astana, and most of the media reporting comes from Russia. Match TV could not officially acquire image rights from the World Chess Federation. Nevertheless, no broadcaster is likely to report as much about this World Cup as the sports channel, which is owned by Gazprom.
